{"id":4951,"date":"2011-04-27T06:36:58","date_gmt":"2011-04-27T11:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/?p=9076"},"modified":"2011-04-26T20:38:11","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T01:38:11","slug":"todd-szegedy-feels-good-chances-winning-40th-annual-carquest-tech-net-spring-sizzler-stafford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/2011\/04\/todd-szegedy-feels-good-chances-winning-40th-annual-carquest-tech-net-spring-sizzler-stafford\/","title":{"rendered":"TODD SZEGEDY FEELS GOOD ABOUT CHANCES OF WINNING 40th ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER AT STAFFORD"},"content":{"rendered":"

TODD SZEGEDY FEELS GOOD ABOUT CHANCES OF WINNING 40th ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER AT STAFFORD<\/strong><\/p>\n

(Stafford Springs, CT)—As Stafford Speedway readies to let the green flag
\nfly on the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler this weekend, 2003
\nWhelen Modified Tour champion Todd Szegedy has to be counted among the
\nfavorites to take home the checkered flag. Being a former SK Modified\u00ae
\ndriver at Stafford, Szegedy has track experience on his side, and he was
\namong the fastest cars that participated in an open test session with his #2
\nWisk sponsored Ford.
\n
\n\u201cThe practice was awesome,\u201d said Szegedy. \u201cThat was the fastest I\u2019ve ever
\ngone at Stafford. We didn\u2019t have the transponders on the cars, but by the
\nstopwatches we were right around 18.0 seconds and we had several people call
\nus who said they had us timed at 17.9. I think we might have had a few
\ntenths of a second on the guys who were at the test, and I know the car felt
\ngood. I think we\u2019re going to be really good for the Sizzler.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2011 Whelen Modified Tour season marks a reunion for Szegedy with crew
\nchief Phil Moran, who was Szegedy\u2019s crew chief when he won the WMT
\nchampionship in 2003. The reunion of Szegedy and Moran paid instant
\ndividends at the season opening race, as Szegedy was fifth fastest in time
\ntrials and was among the front runners in the race before getting caught up
\nin a wreck. Despite finishing 22nd at Thompson, Szegedy feels good about
\nhis team and his chances at Stafford.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving Phil come back on board with us was huge,\u201d said Szegedy. \u201cWe always
\ncommunicated well together and we won a championship together. We were
\nreally good at Thompson, I think we were a little tight in qualifying, but
\nwe were fast in the race. We had the fastest lap of the race at one point,
\nI don\u2019t know if we ended up with the fastest lap at the end of the race, but
\nwe were definitely one of the top-5 fastest cars. We have a really strong
\nteam right now, we have so many good things going for us right now. I have
\na great owner, a great crew chief, and a great crew, so we have a good core
\nin place, and that is really important to have in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the final finishing position didn\u2019t indicate how well Szegedy ran
\nin the season opener, all factors point in the direction of Szegedy having a
\ngood run at Stafford. In 10 career Spring Sizzler races, Szegedy has
\nfinished second three times and he has 6 top-5 and 7 top-10 finishes. With
\nthe Sizzler being 200-laps long, Szegedy says that falls right into his
\ncomfort zone.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the longer races, I think they play into my driving style,\u201d said
\nSzegedy. \u201cI like being able to get into a rhythm and see what the car has.
\nThere is less urgency than the shorter races, but you still have to drive
\nhard right from the green flag. We\u2019ve had a couple of seconds in the
\nSizzler, and with the car and team we have, we feel like we\u2019re going to be
\ncontenders to win the Sizzler. You have to be in position to win late in
\nthe race and you have to make the right changes on your pit stops. You only
\nwant to pit once or maybe twice during the race, so you really have to make
\nthe right changes on the car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the teams take to the track for the race, they first must qualify.
\nQualifying up front certainly helps your chances of winning the race, but
\nSzegedy feels like qualifying up front is not an absolute necessity.
\n\u201cQualifying in the top-10 is definitely important, but I\u2019ve qualified as far
\ndown as the teens and twenties and still been able come back up through the
\npack,\u201d said Szegedy. \u201cI think that if you are among the first 10 cars that
\ngo out during qualifying, you\u2019re at a disadvantage. Even with the tire
\nscrub session we have, I still think that you want to be somewhere about
\n15th or 20th to go out and take time. It seems like the track picks up
\nspeed after about 20 cars have gone out. Pole position is more of a
\npossibility if you are able to go out late rather that being among the first
\ncars to go out. I think there are a number of guys who are going to be fast
\nthis weekend and I\u2019ve always said there\u2019s about 10-15 guys who can win on
\nany given Sunday with the right circumstances. If we are able to go out and
\nwin the Sizzler, it would be a big deal. It would definitely be a race that
\nI could check off my list of races that I want to win. We have a lot of
\nmomentum already on our side with the team that we have and a win this early
\nin the season would only add to that momentum and give us a nice boost for
\nthe rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Szegedy will begin his quest for a CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler trophy
\non Saturday, April 30 with Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the Whelen
\nModified Tour cars, along with heat and consolation races for Stafford\u2019s
\nweekly divisions. Saturday will wrap up with feature events for the SK
\nLight, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock divisions. The Sizzler continues
\non Sunday, May 1 with the CARQUEST Belts & Hose Pit Party followed by
\nStafford\u2019s SK Modifieds\u00ae and Late Models joining the Whelen Modified Tour in
\nfeature action.<\/p>\n

Tickets for the \u201cGreatest Race in the History of Spring\u201d are on sale now at
\nthe Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $35.00 for adult general
\nadmission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and
\nunder are admitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
\nseating is priced at $38.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
\nSpeedway offers free parking with overnight parking available.<\/p>\n

For more information on the 40th annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler\u00ae,
\nor to order tickets, contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
\n860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at www.staffordspeedway.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

TODD SZEGEDY FEELS GOOD ABOUT CHANCES OF WINNING 40th ANNUAL CARQUEST TECH-NET SPRING SIZZLER AT STAFFORD (Stafford Springs, CT)—As Stafford Speedway readies to let the green flag fly on the 40th Annual CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler this weekend, 2003 Whelen Modified Tour champion Todd Szegedy has to be counted among the favorites to take home […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,126,197],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-4951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-new-england","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4951","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4951"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4951\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}